Round-up: Weekend's Allianz HL D3 action
Roscommon's Paddy Fallon. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
Allianz Hurling League Division Three
Roscommon 0-14 Louth 0-11
Donegal 1-18 Armagh 1-9
Tyrone 2-18 Fermanagh 1-17
Donegal and Roscommon continue to be the pacesetters in Division Three of the Allianz Hurling League, with both counties now perfectly poised on six points from three games.
It was Roscommon’s second consecutive win on the road as they edged out Louth at a windswept Darver by three points.
Scores from open play were rare in the opening half with former Limerick hurler Andrew La Touche Cosgrave one of the few scorers on the board, helping Louth to lead by 0-6 to 0-5 at half-time.
Roscommon manager Brian Hanley introduced Seán Canning for his first start of the season here and the Pádraig Pearses man was the difference between the teams, hitting four points from play after the interval.
The game was in the balance with two minutes to play after Ciarán McKelvey reduced the lead to the bare minimum with back-to-back frees, but Paddy Fallon and Seán Canning came up with the scores to put Roscommon in control of their own fate midway through the campaign.
Donegal had home advantage in Letterkenny for the visit of Armagh, establishing an early lead through two Richie Ryan points and a Conor O’Grady goal.
Dylan McKenna’s green flag halved the deficit but Donegal rattled off five unanswered before half-time, with Liam McKinney putting his name on two of them to crown an all-action performance from the midfielder.
Armagh were much more competitive in the second half when Daire Harvey, Barry Shortt and Eoin McGuinness registered impressive scores, but they couldn’t do anything to prevent the Orchard County succumbing to a fourth successive defeat, leaving them in a world of trouble if they are to escape relegation.
Fermanagh are also trapped in that mire after failing to defend home advantage against Tyrone in Brewster Park.
This will feel like a huge missed opportunity for the Erne County who went on a run of four points in a row midway through the first half, three of them from freetaker Daniel Teague, then were handed a further boost when Tyrone centre forward and top scorer Aidy Kelly was red carded in the 20th minute.
Three down at half-time, Tyrone found a hero in Turlough Mullin who came off the bench to score two crucial goals, his second landing right in the middle of a run of 1-6 without reply from the Red Hand men.
Strong scoring from Mickey Little (0-8), Pierce Mullin (0-6) and two crucial points from Ciarán Magill gave Tyrone enough leeway to overcome the concession of a Cahir McManus goal and still secure their second win of the campaign, keeping their promotion hopes alive in advance of what looks like a league-defining trip to Dr. Hyde Park to play Roscommon next weekend.
